Saturday, August 27, 2005

Credo - The Holy Spirit

4. We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.

Person and Deity of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. He is pictured in the Scriptures as possessing attributes of personality (ex. intellect/knowledge in 1 Corinthians 2:11, emotions in Ephesians 4:30). Pronouns used only for persons are used of Him (John 14:26, 15: 26, 16:13). He possesses the attributes of Deity (eg. omnipotence in Luke 1:35). He is equated with God in Acts 5:3-4. These and other teachings of the New Testament prove His personality and Deity (Matthew 28:19).

Ministry of the Holy Spirit
In everything, the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ (John 16:14). Among unbelievers, He is convicting people of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11).

Once one becomes a believer in Christ, the Spirit is busy regenerating (giving one a new nature: Titus 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17), sealing (marking one as genuine and guaranteeing their arrival in glory: Ephesians 4:30), indwelling (permanently coming to live inside the believer: 1 Corinthians 6:19), baptizing (identifying the new believer as Christ’s and incorporating them into the body of Christ: Romans 6:4, 1 Corinthians 12:13), guiding and instructing (John 14:15-17), filling (bringing the believer under His controlling influence: Ephesians 5:18), empowering (2 Timothy 1:7-8) and gifting for edification (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-14:25, 1 Peter 4:10-11).

One of the most important ministries of the Holy Spirit in my life is sanctification. He is the Holy Spirit and desires to bring His holiness into my life. Over time, He is reshaping my character into the image of Christ. He does this by cultivating in me (by faith) the Christlike qualities of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26). As this fruit grows in me by the Holy Spirit’s prompting and power, I am transformed into Christlikeness with ever-increasing glory (1 Corinthians 3:17-18).

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit guarantees that Christ’s Church has all of the resources it needs to function and to fulfill Christ’s commands. So that the ministry of the Church is supernaturally effective, the Holy Spirit sovereignly enables each member of the Church to function in an equally important role for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). These enablements are often called “spiritual gifts” (carismata, perhaps better translated “grace-gifts”).

The Spirit does not give everyone the same gifts (1 Corinthians 12:29-30) or the same strength of gifts (Romans 12:6, 1 Timothy 4:4, 1 Corinthians 14:18). He wisely chooses who gets what gift and for how long (1 Corinthians 12:11). Some gifts are more miraculous than others (eg. “miraculous powers” and “gifts of healings” vs. “teaching” and “serving”) though all are supernaturally empowered (1 Corinthians 12:11). The gifts are designed to work together as a “unit” on the analogy of a body with many parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) and are to be exercised with love as the primary motivation and goal (1 Corinthians 13:1-14:1).

I believe that the Holy Spirit intends to give these gifts to the Church as He sees fit until Christ returns (1 Corinthians 13:8-13, 1 Corinthians 1:7). We are to “eagerly desire” them (1 Corinthians 14:1, 39), and church leaders are to oversee their practice in a “fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40).

In recent decades, there has been much controversy over a few of the more miraculous gifts such as tongues (prayer or praise spoken in syllables not understood by the speaker), prophecy (a report of what God has spontaneously brought to mind, including things which could not have been otherwise known), and healing. I believe that most of the excesses and abuses of the experience-based “Pentecostal” Movement can be avoided by simply following the strictures of 1 Corinthians. For example, tongues are not given to every believer (12:30), tongues are not the sign of “the Baptism of the Holy Spirit” (12:13), and tongues must be spoken one at a time and be interpreted in the public gathering of the church (14:26-28). In the public gathering of the church, prophecy should be limited to two or three; if a revelation is given to someone else, the first should stop for the second; all prophecies should be weighed and sifted carefully by the leadership (14:29-31); women should not weigh prophecies out loud (14:34-35); and all should be done in order (14:33, 40) with the primacy of love as the most excellent way (13:1).

Healings are a temporary and occasional foretaste of the blessings of the age to come and are not guaranteed (in this life) by the Atonement or by great faith (Matthew 4:23, 8:16-17, 10:7, Luke 7:20-23, Acts 4:30, Mark 6:4-6). The experience of sufferings and miraculous healings are both to be expected in this period of time between Christ’s comings. Because God is a loving Father who only gives His children good gifts (Matthew 7:11), He often uses the faith-filled prayers of His children to heal them (James 5:15-16). Moreover, James 5:14 teaches that if someone is sick, they should call the leadership of the church to pray over them in the name of the Lord. It seems likely to me that those with “gifts of healings” are those who experience frequent and more thorough success in prayer for healing (1 Corinthians 12:9, 28). Also, God often uses the skills and talents He has given the men and women in the medical profession to bring healing. Good medicine is a good gift from a great God. Though He doesn’t always heal His people, God always offers comfort, peace, and His presence in the face of suffering.

We should not seek signs from God to doubt God’s glory or make Him jump through hoops before we will trust and obey Him (Matthew 12:39), but with the apostles and early church, we should pray now for signs and wonders to bring God’s glory and advance the Gospel powerfully (Acts 4:29-31).

Part of an ongoing series about what I believe about basic biblical teachings. “Credo” is Latin for “I Believe.”

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